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Cassandra Caravello
Cassandra "Cass" Caravello is the protagonist in the Secrets of the Eternal Rose ''trilogy by Fiona Paul. She first appears in Venom'' as a free-spirited young Venetian noblewoman who has a knack for getting into trouble. Cass has lived with her aunt Agnese since the death of her parents when she was ten. She is engaged to Luca da Peraga, who is studying law in France. In Venom, Cass runs away from the funeral of her friend Liviana, only to run into a group of artists, of which Falco da Padova is a member. She sees Falco again in the churchyard next to her aunt's estate when she goes out to Liviana's crypt in the night and finds that her friend's body has vanished and a strange corpse is in its place. The corpse is that of murdered courtesan Mariabella, whose death Cass and Falco attempt to investigate. Their investigation leads them into the underbelly of Venetian society and puts Cass' life in danger. Her relationship with Falco causes tension with Luca when he returns to Venice, but they make up towards the end, while Falco leaves town after finding employment elsewhere. Following Luca's arrest on false charges of heresy at the start of Belladonna, Cass learns that he faces the prospect of execution and bribes a jailer to be allowed to visit him. Luca tells her about the mysterious Order of the Eternal Rose and the existence of certain papers implicating them in serious crimes. Cass decides to investigate the Order so as to obtain information to clear Luca's name, travelling to the group's main base in Florence with some friends. She runs into Falco again and learns about his patron, the stunning Belladonna, leader of the Order of the Eternal Rose. Cass gets invited to tea with Belladonna at the latter's luxurious estate. Whilst there, Cass gets attacked by wild dogs and is saved by Belladonna's personal physician, Piero Basso. Unbeknownst to everyone, Piero has been stealing blood from Florentine women and denouncing them to the Church as vampires. Piero keeps Cass prisoner and drains her blood for the Order's secret experiments, but Cass manages to escape from his clutches and return to Venice, just before Luca's scheduled execution. Along with her lady's maid Siena, Cass breaks Luca out of jail, but Siena dies in the process. Starling sees Cass and Luca as fugitives from Venetian law and details their quest to destroy the Order of the Eternal Rose. Early on, the pair become separated and Cass ends up hiding at Palazo Dolce disguised as a courtesan. Falco has also returned to Venice, and Belladonna and Piero are in town as well. The latter have set up their base at Angelo de Gradi's workshop where their vile experiments take place. Piero ambushes Cass and takes her prisoner in the basement of the workshop. Falco tries to find out what has happened to Cass and is also captured. Cass keeps a clear and focussed mind and both of them escape, but de Gradi's workshop gets razed in the process, killing both Piero and Belladonna. Meanwhile, Cass is rescued by Luca's deranged half-borther Cristian de Lambert, who was responsible for the death of Mariabella and two other women in Venom. Cristian tries to kill Cass a second time after his previous failed attempt, but she outsmarts him and runs back to Palazzo Dolce. After finding out that Luca has been training with a group of mercenaries on Mezzanotte Island to fight the Order of the Eternal Rose, Cass finally makes up with him and the two vow never to be parted. Cass, Luca and the mercenaries swoop on the home of Venetian Order of the Eternal Rose leader Joseph Dubois in the middle of a party and find the Book of the Eternal Rose in his possession. The information in the book gets passed to the Holy See, and Dubois and several members of the Order in both Venice and Florence are arrested. Cass and Luca both receive a papal pardon and they decide to get married shortly after. Falco pays a surprise visit after Cass had given him up for dead. He gives the newlyweds his blessings and departs for Florence. Cass comes across as foolhardy and emotional, the exact opposite of her best friend Madalena Rambaldo, who seems to act as a foil to the former. She is torn between two men, one she loves but is not allowed to be with and the other she has little feeling for but is engaged to. But at the end of the day, she always chooses the latter. Cass' parents were nobles, but had a passion for medical science and dabbled in various experiments to prolong human life, travelling extensively in the process. Five years before the start of Venom, they supposedly contracted the black death and passed away while returning to Venice for Christmas. It is revealed in Belladonna that the Caravellos as well as Luca's late father were members of the Order of the Eternal Rose. The murder of the Caravellos is documented in the Book of the Eternal Rose found in Joseph Dubois's possessions towards the end of Starling. As a result of Cass' parents' deaths, she now lives with her sickly aunt, Agnese Querini, on San Domenico Island, named after the local church. Villa Querini is located next to the churchyard, where numerous noble families have their crypts. Some time after Agnese's death, Cass and Luca get married and leave for France, where Luca is studying law. Category:Characters Category:Main Characters